A couple of weekends ago I was invited down to a local livery yard for a yard shoot day. I photographed a record 9 horses! You can find out all about them below:
My first shoot of the day was for Linda and her handsome gelding, Llyr. Llyr used to be a carriage driving pony but is now semi-retired and just enjoys the ocassional hack out. He was brilliant and was very interested in the treat bucket!
As you can see, he had a wonderful personality and lots of character!
My next shoot of the day was for Sophie and her two ponies. Up first was her young cob called Bentley. Sophie hopes he'll have a career as a show horse, just like her other coloured boy.
Bentley was a bit unsure whenever Sophie moved away from him but he was a very sweet boy and loved all the attention he was getting. We had a lovely barn to use for black background shots, Sophie really wanted one of her with both of her horses.
Sophie's second horse is a 6 year old coloured gelding called Bentley. He absolutely loved the camera!
Up next was Jackie and her two young horses, one of which is a homebred horse. Meet Gringo and Harley!
Jackie wanted some headshots of both of them. The black background makes a perfect background for headshots. The subtle shadow changes and plain background really make the horses "pop" in a dramatic way; as well as being something a little different.
The fourth session of the day was for Laura and her two horses: Tigger and Trojan. Trojan is an impressive 35 years old! Laura wanted some photographs of her with the horses and some of the horses together. Tigger and Trojan have been field buddies for a long time and her a brilliant relationship, Laura wanted me to capture this for her.
We began the shoot out in the fields and along the track at the bottom of the yard.
We then headed back up towards the two barns for some black background shots of both the horses individually and some with Laura.
Laura wanted me to capture both the horses nuzzling eachothers noses, something she said they do all the time without even being asked - how sweet!
Whilst Cheyanne (my bucket shaker for the day!) and I tucked in to some pizza, Jackie got the next horse ready. Karen, Holly's owner was desperate to have her horse photographed but knew she couldn't make it on the day. The grooms insured Holly was looking her best for her shoot.
We began the shoot with some black background shots. Holly's shiny coat really brings the image to life, I love photographing dark horses on the black background! Next, we took Holly in to an empty paddock for her to let off some steam and hopefully allow me to captures some brilliant action shots! Karen, her owner, said the photos she has of Holly are all from shows, so she'd love some liberty and natural shots.
After some gentle encouragment, Holly cantered between Caroline and Cheyanne with the treat buckets - doesn't she look magnificent?
To finish up our yard day shoot, was the organiser of the day (who did a brilliant job!) and her pony. Meet Caroline and Fella:
We began the shoot down on the track. There was a little clearing alongside one of the fields which we spent most of our time at. Working through a variety of in-hand and then some bareback shots, it was clear to see how much Caroline loves Fella and likewise he adored her back.
Look how handsome Fella is - he kept his eyes firmly locked on that treat bucket!
Caroline's husband and three childeren then turned up with Rosie the dog. After an initial struggle getting everyone to look the same way (both two and four legged) we ended up with a lovely family portrait!
We then finished up Caroline's session in the barn with some black background shots and Caroline bought out some yummy chocolate and banana cakes which were much appreciated after a whole day shooting!
Thank you so much Caroline for ordering such a lovely day (and weather!) with perfectly behaved horses and wonderful owners. It was a pleasure to meet you all and I hope you love your photos!